The Howard Family

William Key Howard, Jr.Kenmore was purchased in 1881 by Mr. William Key Howard of Maryland. The house was badly damaged during the Civil War and the beautiful plasterwork ceilings, for which Kenmore is famous, seemed beyond saving. However, Mr. Howard's 19-year-old son, William Key Howard, Jr., was determined to restore the ravaged ceilings and undertook a successful, year-long restoration. Kenmore was owned by the Howards for several generations; with taste and skill and beautiful colonial furnishings, they brought back the old-time atmosphere to the Lewis home.

William Key Howard, Jr. was also an accomplished woodcarver. It is possible that he made some repairs to the decorative mantles in the house. Two of his small carvings have been loaned to Kenmore and they are currently on display in the Bissell Gallery.

William Key Howard, Jr. inherited the Kenmore property from from his father. In 1905, he sold the mansion to his brother, Mr. Clarence R. Howard, who, with his family, lived in Kenmore until 1914, when Mr. Howard sold the property to Conway Gordon and the Garnett National Bank of Fredericksburg.